Short Stories Christmas Classic

Siblings Alexina and Stephen are down on their luck this year and resign themselves to not having a Christmas dinner. But when their wealthy, gourmand uncle James invites himself to their house for Christmas, the pair scramble to lay out a sumptuous feast, including his favorite, Mince pie. But 10 minutes before the turkey is done, an unforeseeable disaster occurs that threatens to ruin everything.

Vasilisa had not seen her daughter for four years. Her daughter, Yefimya, had gone after her wedding to Petersburg, had sent them two letters, and since then had seemed to vanish out of their lives; there had been no sight nor sound of her. And whether the old woman was milking her cow at dawn or heating her stove or dozing at night, she was always thinking of one and the same thing - what was happening to Yefimya, whether she were alive.... Read in English, unabridged.

American writer William Dean Howells delights us with his cautiously cynical yet endearing telling of the night before Christmas at the Fountain household. Published in The Daughter of the Storage and Other Things in Prose and Verse in 1916, Howells’ sense of realism and social criticism hides behind the humorous banter between Mr. and Mrs. Fountain, as well as relatives passing by. Raging consumerism, New Year’s resolutions, lovingly marital insults, reflections and memories, and a whole bunch of bathrobes!

A Dickens Christmas story about charity, hope, and forgiveness, with a touch of remembrance and loss. This very mature story looks back throughout one's life, promises made, aspirations filled and unfilled, love gained and lost, and many other such touching moments in everyone's life. An American voice was used per listener request.